Shadow in the Mist
by Mystique2
Summary: Eh? Riddick and original female character: Suspense, Mayhem,,,blah...blah...blah
1. Strange Occurences

As for the disclaimer crap: all the usual B

As for the disclaimer crap: all the usual B.S about P.B everyone puts and a little extra blah, blah, blah,  
  
Oh and one other thing if the story begins to sound like anyone else's or parts seem familiar, It is not intentional in any way. I have read so many fics since pitch black has come out that it's coming out my nose. So forgive me and if it needs to be removed I'll be happy to or give credit where credit is do. And if I break any rules let me know I'll learn as I go along. =)  
  
Note: ' ' means the person is thinking in their heads  
  
Chapter One: Strange Occurrences  
  
He ran through the forest quickly, silently, like a shadow among the darkness. Blood trickled from his brow; but he continued on.His feet were blurred by the evening mist; they engulfed his body in the shadows, and he stopped suddenly.   
  
'Did I here something?'   
  
His muscles tightened then relaxed and with the blink of an eye he was gone. Trees clawed at his clothing, arms, and face as if trying to hold him back, but for what reason? He pushed the thought aside; he had to escape, to survive. A glint of light caught his eye and the cool evening breeze tickled his face. Autumn was approaching; the nights were slowly getting longer and colder.  
  
'Eternal darkness, wish it was like this forever'  
  
The breeze carried the sounds of muffled footsteps and snapping twigs to his ears and brought his attention from his thoughts to his current turmoil. He slowed his gate suddenly and stopped and instinctively he crouched; hidden amongst the underbrush, he waited patiently.   
  
Unconsciously his hand grazed his shiv that lay tucked away in his belt and stayed there. He tightened his hand around it; its cool metallic feel gave him a brief sense of comfort.   
She gave her life to save me, but why? He wondered to himself.  
  
Then he saw them: a woman, tall, slender, built, and a man of equal stature, together hunting. Hunting him.  
  
'Ironic, how easily the role of predator and prey is   
reversed.'   
  
He smiled wryly to himself.   
  
'The boys in the slam would love to see me now;   
running away like bitch, hiding in the fucking   
weeds.'   
'And WHY THE HELL CAN'T I SEE THEIR FUCKING   
FACES!!!! But the eyes seem so familiar… Have I   
met them before?'  
  
They were talking to each other as they stalked through the forest when the woman finally stopped 20 meters from his hiding spot.  
  
'Shit'  
  
The woman was mumbling to the man about something but he was to far away to discern what was being exchanged.  
  
'Closer'  
  
They continued talking until the man finally grunted a response to the young women, who started walking perpendicular to the path they were currently on.   
  
'Closer'  
  
the man stood there for a few minutes contemplating which way to go. He looked towards the direction of Riddick and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He glanced towards the thickened forest, where the woman vanished moments before, and took one step towards it.  
  
'Here shit-head, come to daddy,   
let me skull fuck you with my shiv'  
  
the man stopped at the edge of the forest and attempted to peer in to the pitch-black landscape and gave up. He turned around and hesitantly made his way towards his unknown fate.  
  
'That's right fuck face…. Almost….'  
  
Riddick clenched his teeth in an effort to keep from screaming and he leapt fro his hiding place. An animalistic growl roared in his chest, up to his throat, and escaped his gaping mouth. He landed on the man forcing him to fall over.   
  
Riddick placed the shiv against the man's neck and drew blood. The man uttered no sound but stared wide-eyed in terror. He leaned close and could smell the man's sweat and fear.   
  
He whispered in his ear and said, "Are you ready to die for your sins?"  
  
'Strange, why is his face still blurry?'  
  
His voice was almost sadistic in nature and caused the man to shake uncontrollably; the man began to cry and plead. He sneered evilly and drew the shiv deeper, dragging it slowly across the man's throat.   
  
The man began to shriek and plead to spare him,   
  
"P-P-P-L-L-E-E-A-S-S-E DON'T K-I-I-L M-M-E!   
I BEG YOU, P-P-L-E-E-A-A-S-S-E!"  
  
He just shook his head and put his finger to the man's lips and said,   
  
"SSSHHHHHHH."  
  
Riddick started just above a whisper, but his voice steadily rising,   
  
"DID YOU SHOW HER ANY MERCY YOU SICK BASTARD!   
DID YOU GIVE HER A CHANCE TO LIVE!   
DID Y-O-U SPARE J-A-C-K!"  
  
As he was about to kill the man Riddick felt a twinge of pain in his back. His body started to go on fire and he grabbed the object that protruded from his spine. He ripped out the feathery dart with a grunt.  
  
Riddick mumbled something inaudible under his breath,   
  
" The woman, I forgot about the woman…"  
  
As he tried to lift himself off the man his vision faded and the forest began to spin. He fell back down and the man's assailant kicked him over. She stared at him, cold and cruel, and her shinning eyes bore a hole in his.   
  
She asked in a mocking tone,   
  
"Are YOU ready to die for your sins?"  
  
"OH my GOD!" he stammered, " CAROLYN!"  
  
That was all Riddick was able to get out before she put a bullet between his eyes. His wide-eyed horrific gaze was all that stared back into the endless night where he would remain. In the distance a bird began to sing, signaling the approaching dawn.   
  
  
  



	2. Remembering

Note: *** indicates flashback 

Note: *** indicates flashback   
Disclaimer: all the other ish I said in the beginning of chapter one.  
  
Chapter 2:Remembering  
  
He woke up screaming; sweat dripping fro his brow and his entire body shivering.  
  
"It was a dream?" he said, almost in disbelief.  
  
He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.  
  
He looked around at the crappy hotel room, glancing at the holo-clock, and groaned. It was just too damn fucking early for this bull.  
  
'Shit, what the fuck was that all about?'  
  
He'd had dreams, or nightmares rather, like this before, but none with such intensity as tonight's. A stirring from along side him brought Riddick from his thoughts.  
  
'You've gotta be fucking kidding me'  
  
Riddick tore the sweat soaked covers from his naked body and glanced at the figure sprawled nude and snoring loudly on his mattress. He stood up and stretched, simultaneously rubbing his baldhead and yawning. He had picked her up from Loopie's hours before and brought her back here for a quick fuck.   
  
'Looks like this quick fuck turned into an all-nighter."  
  
"Get out," Riddick said loud enough to wake her.  
  
"Wha-What?" the woman stammered.  
  
"Are YOU fucking DEAF? I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT NOW!!!" he growled, quickly losing his temper.  
  
"What's the matter baby? Wanna go another round?" she asked playfully as she got on her knees and walked across the bed to gently stroke his chest, then abs, then…  
  
Riddick grabbed her arm roughly and brought her face inches from his. In a low menacing growl, enough to make any grown man piss his pants, he said,  
  
"Are you stupid as well as deaf? Or is it you've just swallowed so much cum that, that is all that's left in that fucking head of yours?"  
  
Before she had time to react, he unceremoniously dropped the slut to the floor and walked into the bathroom. Before he closed the door he popped his head back out and said,  
  
"Now get your shit, get out, and don't forget to close the door… oh and don't expect me to pay you either, cause you weren't THAT good."  
  
And with that Riddick shut the door and turned on the shower.  
  
"Stupid FUCKING PHYSCHOTIC ASSHOLE," she yelled loud enough to wake the neighborhood, " and you know what… you're not that BIG either."  
  
With that she walked out the door and left it open.  
  
Riddick in the meantime was sitting on the toilette thinking about the dream. He barely heard the cunt yell at him and only snorted in reply to her statement.   
  
So many times he tried to forget, to forget the pain, and each time his dreams would remind him.  
  
Sigh  
  
'Jack, god I miss your face girl. Why, why did you have to go and be so fucking stupid? If it weren't for me you would still be here today. Carolyn if only you were here to tell me what I'm missing. You saved me, brought me towards hope of a life, of redemption, but I still have nothing. I'm still alone.'   
  
With an angry grunt he slammed his fist against the wall to ease his tension. The wall cracked with the force, as well as his hand and started to bleed, but he barely noticed.  
  
'The pain reminds me I'm alive'  
  
He looked at the blood dripping from his cracked knuckles and watched it drip on to the dirty tiled floor.   
  
His mind flashed back to that night on the planet. So much blood, so much pain.   
  
Fuck this soul bullshit, it aint for me.'  
  
He stood up and stepped towards the shower, turning the temperature to as hot as his body would allow.   
  
'Five fucking years Jack and I'll still remember that day as if it was yesterday.'   
  
As he began to let the water drip down his body and wash away his previous excursions; he leaned his head against the wall, closed his eyes, and released a sigh.  
  
'He could still see her eyes and the way they would light up, as if thousands of fireflies were dancing to an unknown song in glowing amber orbs, whenever he would looked at her. She was his solace, his peace, his very essence of purity and innocence that he was denied at youth; only to be retched from him in a moment of hesitation and impulse.'  
  
***   
"Riddick when are you gunna let me learn to fly this peace of shit?" Jack whined from the storage room, "I gotta learn sometime. Come on please, pppllleeeaaasseee!"  
  
Riddick couldn't help but smirk at her consistent whining. In the year and half that he had spent with her since the incident on T2, he had to admit it; the kid had grown on him. She hadn't convinced him not to leave her with Iman on New Mecca, damn near pleaded the whole time they were there, and it wasn't until she had snuck on the ship had he finally let her stay. He knew she was there, but damn if she didn't have guts for trying.  
  
"Riddick?"  
  
No answer  
  
"Riddick?"  
  
Still silence  
  
"Riddick!!! Are you listening to me?"  
  
"Yes, Jack"  
  
"Then why didn't you answer me?" she asked walking into the control room and sitting into the co-pilot's chair.  
  
He turned and looked at her and studied her face. Her hair had gotten longer and she was starting to look more like a young woman than a little boy.  
  
"Jack how old are you?" he asked.  
  
"16, you know that, why?"  
  
"Exactly my point. Your too young to pilot"  
  
"Awe c'mon Riddick. It's not like I can break this peace of shit worse than it is all ready."  
  
He just looked at her, with his stony face, and the discussion was closed.  
  
"Look kid, when you turn 18 I'll let you pilot, O.K?"  
  
She looked at him for a second and had the goofiest grin plastered on her face. She lunged herself off the seat and wrapped her arms around his neck. He stayed like that for a few moments taken aback by her release of affection, but regained composure and engulfed her in a hug with his massive arms.  
  
'Damn I'm going soft'  
  
That would be the last happy moment they had together. In 12 hours from now their fates would be sealed; the innocence of a child lost and the mind of a killer regained.


	3. Dangerous waters

Chapter 2:Pt2: Dangerous Waters

Chapter 3: Dangerous Waters  
  
The memories were so painful, but constantly he would remember. His mind would refuse to let him forget; it would remain an image permanently imprinted in his subconscious that embedded itself there for all an eternity.  
  
He turned in the stall and let the scalding water run down his tense back and it slowly eased the pain and grief off of his shoulders; shoulders that seamed to carry lifetimes of sadness to weigh them down.   
  
***  
"Jack make sure everything's secure for landing 'cause we'll be on Veda in less than 20 minutes."  
  
"It's all secure Riddick, I did it over an HOUR ago."  
  
"ALLRIGHT then. Come up here, I wanna show you something.  
  
'Mother Fucker I can't believe I'm doing this…I got to be crazy.'  
  
Before Jack could make her way to the front of the ship, Riddick stood up and sat himself in the co-pilot's chair.  
  
"Riddick, what the heck are you doing?" Jack asked bewildered.  
  
"What the fuck does it look like? Prepare us to land, kid."  
  
She looked at him for a moment in disbelief and before he had a chance to change his mind she ran to the pilot's chair and sat down. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she looked over the control panels.  
  
"What do I do now?"  
  
"You've watched me over a thousand times, figure it out."  
  
And with that Riddick closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head.  
  
'She better not fuck up.'  
  
Jack then proceeded to switch on the comm unit to signal tower.  
  
"This is Hell's Kitchen requesting permission to land."  
  
"This is Tower Control…"  
  
Crackle, hiss, click, click  
  
"Name verification, ID #, and any other passengers on board"  
  
She glanced at Riddick from the corner of he eye, and seeing that he had not acknowledged the question in any way, proceeded to look for their current cards.  
  
"This is Ja…Err…Uh…Beth McAllister, ID # B015673M, and my brother's name is Dre McAllister, ID # D638259M."  
  
"ID verified please proceed to Section B, Docking Bay 12, and have a pleasant stay on Veda."  
  
As the landing port came clearer into view, Jack began to get nervous; she was actually gunna land this piece of shit.  
  
'If it doesn't break up in the atmosphere first.' She thought wryly.  
  
She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants, made a silent prayer to God, and gripped the controls. She eased the craft into the atmosphere, checking the altitude and degree of entry; everything was going smoothly.   
  
The ship began to shake under the intense pressure of re-entry, but she hardly noticed. Section B came into view and she steadily reduced her velocity to the acceptable speed. Jack lowered the landing gear as they approached gate 12, and as the reversed thruster kicked in, signaling the final landing sequence, Jack released the breath she hadn't known she had been holding.  
  
Riddick pushed himself out of the chair and ruffled Jack's short hair.  
  
"Good work kid, you did a good job for your first time."  
  
With that said he walked to the back and released the hatch to exit. Before he finally left he said,  
  
"I'll meet you at the exit in 10 minutes. Oh, and Jack, you can stop gripping the controls like that, you're gunna break 'em."  
  
Jack blushed and looked away from him.  
  
"Fuck you."  
  
But he hadn't heard her; he was already out of sight.  
  
Jack stood up and walked to her room. She grabbed her bag and the shiv Riddick showed her how to make, and proceeded to make her way to the exit of the compound.  
  
It took Jack longer than she had expected, she got lost a few times, but when she finally made her way there Riddick was nowhere in sight. She began to panic.  
  
'Where the fuck is he?'  
  
'O.K calm down Jackie-girl, he's a grown man, probably just stopped to kill someone along the way.'  
  
Five minutes  
  
'Maybe he stopped to kill a few people?'  
  
Ten minutes  
  
'He could have stopped to get a few things.'  
  
Twenty minutes  
  
'That's fucking it, something's wrong. I gotta find him.'  
  
Riddick stood in an alley way not to far from where Jack was standing. He could see the worried expression on her face as she waited for him, and as the time wore on, he noticed her resolve to stay calm slipping further, and further away.  
  
When he noticed her begin to leave to look for him a wave of relief washed over him; she began to look in the opposite direction.  
  
'Good. Just don't turn around.'  
  
As if on cue, she turned and headed back to him.  
  
'Fuck, were in shit'  
  
He backed away and hid in the shadows when she appeared in the entrance to the alleyway.  
  
"Riddick?"  
  
No response. The hairs on her neck began to rise but before her brain could register what was happening, it was too late. A gun was pointed to the back of her head, and before she had the chance to react, she was shoved to the floor; her face making contact with the concrete.  
  
"Come out, come out, where ever you are"  
  
Still, no response.  
  
"Awe c'mon Riddick you're not going to let me kill her are you?" taunted a gruff female voice.  
  
Jack looked up at the woman but couldn't see her face; she was covered from head to foot in black material and the blood trickling in her eye made her vision blurry.  
  
"RIDDICK I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE SO GET THE FUCK OUT YOU PUSSY BEFORE I SPLATTER THIS BITCHES BRAINS ALL OVER THIS FUCKING ALLEY!!!"  
  
The woman was becoming very impatient; she hit Jack in the back of the head with the blunt end of the pistol to get her point across. Jack only cried out in pain.  
  
"ENOUGH!"  
  
There, from the shadows, a very menacing and a very pissed Richard B. Riddick emerged, fists clenched waiting for all hell to reign down.  
  
He had seen the woman as soon as he stepped off the ship; he got that feeling, but continued walking, not breaking a stride as he weaved in and out of coming and going traffic.  
  
He saw an alley way before the exit and advanced his way towards the entranced glancing to see if he had lost her or not.  
  
'Good now all I have to do is wait.'  
  
He saw the woman look around for her lost quarry and was calmed when she receded in the other direction.  
  
'Just gotta lay low a couple 'a more minutes and I'll be good to go'  
  
Then Jack came.  
  
'Fucking girl's gunna mess everything up. I should just grab her and go. Then the woman reappeared, looking at Jack.  
  
'Fuck'  
  
When Jack appeared in the shadows Riddick silently cursed to the Lord that resented him so much. He knew he was screwed when she called his name; the woman had been listening. He knew he was deeply fucked when she appeared behind Jack and pointed a gun to her head. And he had seen enough when the woman hit her.  
  
When Riddick emerged from the shadows, he saw the horrific look Jack had on her face and felt his chest become tight when he noticed the blood trickling down her temple to run its course and pool beneath her.  
  
"Well, Well, Well if it isn't the INFAMOUS Richard B. Riddick. How nice to finally meat you."  
  
"And your name is?"  
  
"My names not important. What IS important is the choice you have."  
  
"I actually get to make a choice?" He laughed  
  
" Don't hear that one too often but if your willing then, aiight. You wanna know my choice? I'll fucking tell you." He growled.  
  
"You let the girl go and won't gut you like the PIG you are."  
  
"Now Riddick that's not the choice I had in mind. Now the scenario I DO see happening is you come with me and I let the girl go." She said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Yeah fucking right, where have I heard that one before?" Riddick said mockingly.  
  
"Listen Riddick I'm in no mood to play games and I seem to be rather trigger happy tonight so make it fast. Your life or hers. The choice is yours."


	4. Fate's Irony

Riddick thought for a few moments on the situation occurring in front of him

Chapter 4: Fate's Irony

Riddick thought for a few moments on the situation occurring in front of him. He could rush the woman, but Jack at the moment was too incoherent, so he decided on the only other logical option.  
  
"O.K., Alright, you win," he sighed.  
  
"Just don't hurt the kid."  
  
The woman just smirked at the words and dollar signs flashed in her eyes at the thought it.  
  
'The creed is greed' he thought.  
  
She pointed the gun away from Jack and trained it on Riddick's head. Then hoisted Jack up by the back of her shirt and was about to throw her against the wall, but Jack began to thrash wildly and started to scream.  
  
"NO YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM! LEAVE HIM ALONE! HE'S MINE!"  
  
The merc was so startled by this sudden outburst that she let go of the girl, and Jack went hurdling towards the wall.   
  
The next chapter of events lasted less then ten seconds but it all went in slow motion.  
  
Jack managed to spin around so when she hit, her back made contact with a loud thud that knocked the breath out of her. The woman had lowered her gone away from Riddick's head and before she even realized it she knew she was fucked if she didn't recover, and fast.   
  
Riddick wasted no time lunging at her but was surprised that she was able to dodge his attack.  
  
'She's better than I thought'  
  
She quickly tucked and rolled, dodged Riddick's advanced, and back flipped so she was now facing both Riddick and Jack. Jack had finally gotten up but was unsure of what to do, so stayed against the wall five feet away from Riddick, and Riddick just stood there in his predatory stance, brandishing his shiv, with a look of death in his eyes.  
  
"Looks like we have a little problem here guys," she said as she dusted off her clothes.  
  
"And what might that be?" Riddick squeezed out through clenched teeth.  
  
"Well the problem is that it looks as if I only get half my payday."  
  
Jacks eyes went wide as the realization of the woman's words sunk in.   
  
The gun fired  
  
Without thinking Jack lunged herself towards Riddick and rammed into him with all the strength she could muster. White-hot pain shot up her abdomen, through her chest, and out her throat in a blood-curdling scream. Riddick maddened with rage surged towards the merc and gutted her from navel to nose, her innards splashed the dirty street, and she was dead before her brain even registered what happened.  
  
Riddick ran back over to Jack and gently cradled the girl in his arms, rocking her lovingly back and forth. He looked at the young woman's innocent face; her skin so fair - her life so pure - and a single tear fell down the man's face. The look of a killer gone; it was only to be replaced with unguarded emotions of shear agony.  
  
When the tear hit Jack's face she opened her eyes and looked at him, as if for the first time, and smiled. She tried to speak, but her throat was filled with blood, and it began to run out when she opened her mouth. She started coughing, the blood was suffocating her, but that only caused more pain. Jack was getting weak, the vision of Riddick slowly fading away, but before she went she had to try and say one last thing.  
  
Riddick just looked at her as she attempted to talk and cocked his head to one side, gently wiping the blood away from her mouth. He wanted to say something to her, anything, but his throat felt too tight; he was trying to hold back the tears. What could he say? There were no words that could capture the depth of sadness that he was feeling, he loved her, she was his very reason for living; now she would be gone and he would have nothing to live for, no reason to wake up and face another day in this shit hole universe.  
  
He stroked her face gently as he noticed her beautiful eyes begin to dim, the sparkle of life in them slowly fading away, and he pressed his lips to her forehead and kissed her tenderly.  
  
"Jack…I…."  
  
She looked at him with her last remaining strength and slowly lifted her hand to his face. She placed her fingers against his lips before he could finish, and minutely shook her head. She opened her mouth to try and speak again."  
  
In the smallest of whispers, she said,  
  
"I love you"  
  
He let his tears fall freely now, for there was no one to witness his moment of weakness, and just stared at her limp body; his face completely devoid of emotion.  
  
His eyes began to hurt from the release, it had been a long time since he felt anything besides emptiness inside, and his chest felt so constricted he could hardly breath. The vein in his forehead was feverishly pulsing and the pulsing accompanied the pounding in his head; he was at a loss and was unsure of what to do. He had never bothered to mourn anyone's death; he didn't know where to begin.   
  
She was gone now, his Jack, lost forever in death's weeping wings. An innocent soul taken before she was ready because he had known her and loved her, and she, had loved him in return.   
  
Everything he ever loved and cherished seemed to succumb to a horrible fate; everything innocent he cared about was murdered, but never him. The very evil monster that everyone feared and hated was allowed to live, to survive, that was his gift; for his life, he would have to watch those around him suffer, and that's why he stopped caring. He stopped giving a damn when he found out how he ended up in an orphanage, an infant with an umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. He stopped giving a crap when the only other person he cared about was beaten and ravaged repeatedly until she died. And he stopped giving a fuck when his last link back to humanity lay in his arms, limp, broken, and bloody.  
  
'Fuck Carolyn and her redemption. Everything I touch turns to shit, so why even fucking bother. I'm better of being what everyone expects, a fucked up maniac on a blood lusting rampage. At least I can't loose anything I care about if I have nothing to begin with.'  
  
"Fuck Jack, god, I love you too," he sighed.  
  
It began to rain, and it coupled with Riddick's tears to mingle with Jack's blood, and made its coursing path down the alley way towards the sewer to disappear forever.   
  
He carefully picked her up and brushed the hair out of her eyes and off her face. He was soaked in her blood and it was running down his body to accumulate in his boots. He wasn't sure where he was taking her and he didn't care; he wanted to get as far away from here as he could. Riddick didn't care about the horrified looks the people he passed were giving him and he didn't give a fuck if he got caught now either. He just wanted to put Jack's body and soul to rest.  
  
He continued walking for hours, all the while, his body was being battered by the torrential rain and deafening winds. As darkness approached, however, it subsided and Riddick came upon the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.   
  
The path he was on lead him to a small waterfall that dissipated into a large lagoon type lake. It had large lily pads with flowers floating lazily across the waters surface, and surrounding the lake were the most striking array of plants and flowers. What took his breath away, were the fireflies dancing in the reflection of the moon on the water, and he pictured Jack's stunning eyes.   
  
He picked the spot and laid her tenderly beside it. Riddick looked around for something to use to dig with and saw nothing; he unsheathed his shiv and vehemently began to dig with the curved tip.   
  
It took him all night and when the sun finally came up, he put his goggles on, and was finished. He picked Jack's body up and tenderly placed her in her grave. He placed the shiv there with her and began to cover Jack up with the remaining dirt.  
  
"If anything comes and attacks you in the night, you've got something to protect you, cause I know how much your hate the dark."  
  
He dug up one of the pretty plants he saw and buried it again by Jack's head for a head stone.  
  
"You're my life and soul, with you goes it, and I'm left empty to become what I once was. I know that's not what you want to hear, but I have nothing to keep me among these people. This is another chance at redemption I don't want – can't take - and I'm… I'm sorry. I'll never forget what you did for me and maybe somewhere down the line I'll use what you've given me. Good bye Jack, you'll always be in my heart and on my mind."  
  
He walked away, never looking back, and disappeared into the woods. He didn't know where he was going and it didn't matter. He was pissed and wanted to kill. He wanted the smell of fear to intoxicate his senses, the rush of the kill to entice his body, and the taste of blood to tantalize his mouth. But, most of all he wanted to make it long, slow, and painful.  
  
The beast in Richard B. Riddick was free from its cage, alive and well.


	5. Darkness

Riddick slowly came out of his daze and, once again, only to have all the memories resurface

Chapter 5: Darkness

Riddick slowly came out of his daze and, once again, only to have all the memories resurface. It's become a wound within himself that never heals, a constant pain in his being he wishes to forget, but is forced to relive ever endless night to dawning day.  
  
After he had left the forest he had gone into seclusion, doing only what he needed to facilitate his survival. He killed, destroyed, beat, badgered, and royally fucked up everything and everyone that crossed him. Riddick sought revenge on all those who suppressed him in the past and met up with those who owed him, but only reaped empty rewards.  
  
Riddick got a ship and planet hopped, becoming a merc of types, and that's where he is today. Still moving from place to place, with nothing and no one to keep him or make him leave, he wanders as a nomad, alone.  
  
His rage having subsided some in the last five years, he settled into the groove of being the good old 'I don't give a fuck' Riddick, with the tormented soul to tag along with it.   
  
Something wasn't right, however, he could feel it. The very animal in him screamed it; something was going to happen and soon. But what?  
  
'Who the fuck cares anyhow. Someone tries to come fuck with me and I fuck with them. End of story. That's how it's always been and that's how it always will be. You weren't meant to have anyone in your life; never forget that. Especially the next time you decide to get the ingenious idea of developing a soul and actually giving a fuck about someone else.'  
  
"Rule number 1: Worry about your own ass. Rule number 2: Never forget rule number 1," he mumbled to himself out loud.  
  
'That's right dipshit, shoulda remembered that one a long fucking time ago. No one cares about you. No one will shed a tear when you die. Remember you're a payday to everyone, nothing more than a big fat dollar sign everyone's waiting to cash in on.'  
  
The water had gone from scalding hot to subzero and Riddick got out and grabbed a towel, he wrapped it around his waste. Just when he was about to turn around a walk to his room, something pricked him in the neck.  
  
"What the fuck?"  
  
He reached back and ripped the hypo out, it was the one in his dream.  
  
He turned and looked through the doorway and there, standing before his eyes, were five very big and very loaded I.A's (intelligence assassins) from the very same people who made him.   
'This is fucking great'  
  
"Richard B. Riddick you are to come peacefully with us. If you choose to do other wise we will be forced to use any means necessary to apprehend and take you back to base. Do you understand?" said, who appeared to be, the commanding officer of the group.  
  
"Oh I fucking understand all right. But I sure as hell am not going peacefully and I'm quite positive I'm not going anywhere without killing a coupla of you dick sucking lackeys in the process," he said with a sarcastic and menacing smile on his face.  
  
"Sir, why isn't the sedative working?" asked one of the men.  
  
Before the question could be answered Riddick grabbed his shiv and lunged at the asshole closest to him, the one who asked the question, and embedded the shiv in the man's eye straight through his brain.  
  
'One down four to go'  
  
The other four panned out and circled the room causing Riddick to stand in the center.  
  
'Shit'  
  
The first man pulled out a tazer gun and set it on its highest setting. He aimed it at Riddick's back and fired. Riddick heard the noise of it going off and ducked in time to see it hit the man he was facing and fry him till his eyes popped out.  
  
'Stupid fuckers'  
  
While this was happening the other two men lunged at the crouching Riddick, but one, unfortunately got to know what his own blood tasted like before he died.  
  
This left Riddick open for a fraction of a second, giving enough time for the other man lunging at Riddick to dodge out of his way as his shiv missed his throat by millimeters.  
  
Riddick lunged at the attacker and was about to shove the shiv into the fucker's throat when he felt another prick in his back, and everything went numb.   
  
He fell instantly to the floor and as the room began to go black he noticed they hadn't broken in.  
  
'The bitch left the door open'


	6. Awakening

A lone creature sat in the corner of a darkened room; huddled there, half naked and undernourished

Chapter 6: Awakening

A lone creature sat in the corner of a darkened room; huddled there, half naked and undernourished. Long chains bound the creature's wrists and ankles to the wall and floor. And a collar with two spikes lay embedded in her neck, an inhibitor meant to keep her from having another 'episode'.   
  
The room was a large reinforced steel box with one large observation mirror directly opposite from the creature. The room was bare: no bed, toilette, table, or food. She received no visitors, was never let out, and remained chained. Permanently.   
  
The doctor in the control roomed stared at her, his experiment, and wondered.  
  
It even amazed him to an extent how she did it, but then he remembered what exactly she had done, and all the amusement flooded out of the good doctor's face.  
  
***  
2 wks ago  
  
She had been forgotten, a life-long project failed, and after five years of no recovery, she was being terminated. General Drayco had stormed in with his troops removing all files and case sensitive materials from the premises; total extermination was protocol. Which meant everything and everyone one was to be snuffed out.   
  
The Higher Ups had declared a cease on the project after five years of containment in a stasis chamber with no success at recovery.   
  
What a sad day it was indeed.  
  
Her eyes opened suddenly, chaos surrounded the world around her. Her mind confused and foggy, trying to comprehend the situation surrounding her, the scene was utter chaos; a climaxing uproar of sounds drifting through her tank and into her ears.  
  
She couldn't understand what the disoriented beings were saying; it was as if they were speaking an alien language, unbeknownst to her. Then she realized it.  
  
'I'm floating in fucking water'  
  
She tried to move, but nothing happened. She closed her eyes and concentrated, willing her mind to do as she asked, and focused. Her body began to tingle all over, and in split second, three six-inch long blades extended from each hand.   
  
A crash brought everyone's attention from the squabble and was redirected towards the corner of the room.   
  
They all froze. Whether it was from disbelief, shock, fear, or all three, they just stood there and stared.  
  
The creature stood slowly from her crouching position as she tried to comprehend what the fuck was going on. She had no idea how or why she was in here, nor did she care to stand around to find out.   
  
She finally met their gazes with her own icy emerald eyes, and stared blankly, cocking her head to one side as she did so. Her look seemed to unnerve a few of the men and women who were slowly slipping away towards the emergency exit.  
  
She took a step forward  
  
An I.A raised his gone to fire but Drayco shot him a look that told him other wise. He then cleared his throat to speak and licked his lips that had oddly become very dry.  
  
"Vega"  
  
At the sound of that name her head snapped towards the General's direction, but her eyes remained hollow and eerie, blinking strangely as if the lights bothered her. It was too bright in the room for her and the light caused her pupils to dilate like a cat's.  
  
She took a step closer.  
  
"Do you know where you are?"  
  
Another   
  
"This is the Company Intelligence Headquarters."  
  
Still closer  
  
"You've been in a coma for five years."  
  
Almost there  
  
"D-o y-o-u u-n-d-e-r-s-t-a-n-d?"  
  
She had been buying some time to let her mind and body acclimate themselves to their new environment. Her muscles suffered severe atrophy from inactivity and it was painful to move, but every time she took another step forward the pain drifted farther and farther from her mind as the beast took over.  
  
'It'll be worth it."  
  
She had unnerved him, could sense it, his fear intoxicating her neglected senses, sweeping over her body in waves. The mounting fear in the room creped through her body and she reveled in it.  
  
'It's been a long time.'  
  
She blinked at Drayco a few times, and a crooked smile began to play its picture across her face, causing the General to swallow suddenly.  
  
"Tell Lucifer I said hello," was her only reply.


	7. Captivity

The General's face grew pale as the meaning of her words sunk in and before he could even blink, she attacked

Chapter 7: Captivity

The General's face grew pale as the meaning of her words sunk in and before he could even blink, she attacked.  
  
Her moves were precise, but sluggish, and she was having trouble counteracting the attacks Drayco's men were inflicting upon her.  
  
She lunged at the first man and sliced his head clean off his shoulders, then proceeded towards the General. Unfortunately, the men were ready for this one, and began to open fire at her.  
  
She successfully dodged a few bullets, weaving in and out of crouched and frightened doctors, and swung her fist at Drayco's face. He was so alarmed, he couldn't move; his body was breaking out in a cold sweat. A soldier hit the back of her head with the blunt end of his rifle just as her blades came within mere millimeters of Drayco's face.  
  
She toppled over and rammed into the General's stomach, knocking him and her to the floor. Before she could even attempt to get up they all pelted her with shock bullets, which sent micro fibers of high pulsing electric charges all over her body. She writhed and screamed in pain as shock after shock hit her, until she passed out.  
  
"Get her off me! GET HER THE FUCK OFF ME RIGHT FUCKING NOW! Off, Off, Off!"   
  
Drayco lost all his composure as they lifted the creature off him and dropped her to the floor. He was shaking profusely and by the puddle under his foot, pissed his pants as well.  
  
"How many of those things did you hit her with?"  
  
"Six rounds, I believe, Sir," said the soldier closest to him.  
  
'It only takes two bullets to knock out a regular person.' Drayco thought.  
  
The General, slowly regaining himself, despite the smell of piss permeating the room, turned to the head doctor originally in charge of the project.  
  
"Looks like you and your staff will live a little longer after all."  
  
With that he turned on his heels, with his head held high, and marched out of the room, with his men following close behind.  
  
*** END FLASHBACK***  
  
After that incident they had been forced to put her in a steel room, chained and shackled, with an inhibitor to keep her from having a 'psychotic fit', as they called it. When she first woke she had fought against her restraints, nearly broker her wrists clear off from the strain she was putting on them, and that's when they upped her doses. Since then she hasn't moved.  
  
"Completely catatonic," said Shay Hereka, the head doctor, in disbelief.  
  
'The vid screens show no brain OR electrical activity, but she's still alive, and all her other vitals are operating at a phenomenal rate.'  
  
Knock, Knock  
  
"Come in," Shay said distractedly.  
  
"Any change yet?" asked the young colleague.  
  
Silence  
  
"Hello? Earth to Doc Hereka. You in there?" she asked worriedly.  
  
"Huh, what did you say?"  
  
"I said as there been any change yet."  
  
"No. Unfortunately not Vita."  
  
She sat down in the chair next to him and followed his gaze towards the creature; her eyes were staring back at them with a sardonic emptiness that not only startled Vita, but also sent noticeable shivers down her spine.  
  
Removing her eyes from the hideous creature she turned to Dr. Hereka.  
  
"How long have you been working on this project, Sir, if you don't mind my asking."  
  
"No not at all, Vita, you can ask me anything you want. You ARE one of my top pupils and most aspiring newcomer to the project. Now that it's reopened that is."  
  
"So, how long?"  
  
"Oh well, 23 years, I believe. I was here when they started with the first test subject."  
  
"And who might that be?"  
  
"Why none other than THE RICHARD B. RIDDICK, himself," Shay said with a chuckle.


	8. Answers

Vita Sibyis stared at her mentor in disbelief

Vita Sibyis stared at her mentor in disbelief.  
  
"Your joking right?"  
  
"I wish I was," he said with a sigh.  
  
He rubbed his face as if pained by thoughts occurring in his head.  
  
"What I'm about to tell you stays in this room, do you understand? If any one was to find, out you and I would be exterminated without reason or question."  
  
"Yes, of course I understand, Shay," she said anxiously.  
  
"When I came to Lycon, research and development for a perfect, hybridized killing machine, was just beginning. I came out of grad school when I was twenty, and was immediately recruited to begin to start on the first project. Many of the subjects my team and I experimented on never made it through the first trials, until we received a delinquent adolescent on his way to juvie. When we originally received the information on him: past history, family, etc, we thought there had been some mistake. He was only 12 or 13 at the time, with no recorded birth date, so we weren't even sure if that's how old he really was; he looked younger. His parents were unknown, and he had been left in a trash been with his umbilical cord around his neck. We weren't even sure why he had been sent to us in the first place; he could have been some junkie's crack baby. I mean, he seemed far from the spectrum we were so often dealing with, that we just fooled around with him for a while. Taught him various things here and there, but he surprised us on how quickly he picked them up. That's when we began to teach him, Ehem, how do you say, more use full elements."  
  
***  
The boy was young, almost too young, to be brought to Lycon's 'Rehabilitation Center', as everyone so proudly called it, but they were desperate; all previous subjects failed and the occasional few that survived the first year, snapped one day and committed suicide. There was something in his file's that the big shots were keeping from the doctor's and they had know idea what the secret would cost them in the end.  
  
"Hey Shay, can you come here for a minute?" asked a burly man.  
  
"Will ya give me a sec, I'm busy," he retorted.  
  
"Uhm, I don't think this can wait, we have, uh, a new visitor."  
  
"A what? What do you mean by new and what are you talking about visitor?"  
  
Shay took his eyes away from the cadaver he was dissecting for future research and looked over at Kahleel. When he saw what was coming down the glass elevator he sighed heavily, and presumably began to remove his goggles, as well as, his bloody smock and gloves.  
  
He groaned heavily and shook his head in desperation.  
  
'If I don't get these reports finished and handed in to Drayco, he'll have my fucking head for breakfast. This shit better be worth it.'  
  
When he finally stood next to Kahleel and glanced up, he noticed General Drayco himself, escorting the child towards them.  
  
"You've gotta be shitten me man, this pricks given us a kid? What's next baby's and pregnant women?" Shay whispered.  
  
They stood at attention and addressed the General formerly when he finally stopped walking.  
  
"Men this here is your newest 'project', Richard, and make no exception; he may be a child, but well, I'll leave it at that. Your scientists, I'm sure you can figure out what we mean. Oh, and here's his folder regarding all his information."   
  
With that said he turned on his heals and left, leaving man and child alone to play.  
  
***  
"So what happens next, Shay?"  
  
"That'll have to wait for tomorrow. My shifts over and Kiba should be here to watch Vega the rest of the night. We'll continue this tomorrow. Have a pleasant evening, Vita."  
  
Shay Hereka turned and left before Vita had a chance to sputter a word. If he had looked back he would have noticed how red in the face with annoyance she was and the glow illuminating from Vega's eyes.  
  
  



	9. Curiosity Killed the Cat

Kiba walked in the small observation room a few minutes later, she was an older woman, who also had been installed on the proj

Kiba walked in the small observation room a few minutes later, she was an older woman, who also had been installed on the project when it first began. She noticed a red faced Vita and sat by her in a hurry, concerned.  
  
"Vita dear what's wrong?"  
  
"Huh, oh nothing, I just hate it when Dr. Shay tells a story and never finishes it."  
  
Kiba chuckled to herself.  
  
"Oh honey, you'd better get used to that as long as you're working with us. Shay Hereka is known for the torment he causes with his fragmentary stories."  
  
They both sat there silently, thinking about their life with Lycon and where it has lead them, when Vita spoke up again.  
  
"Hey, Kiba?"  
  
"Yes Vita what is it?"  
  
"Well I was just wondering if you could tell me more about subject Vega," Vita asked hesitantly.  
  
"What is it you want to know? You've read the reports as we all have and know as just as much as Shay and I."  
  
"Well I know, but some of the things confused me and I was hoping you can clarify the gray areas of the project."  
  
Vita looked at Kiba with a pleading look in her eyes. She had been kept in the dark about most of the work done here, and was only allowed to view the very basic of knowledge on the test subjects.  
  
"Very well, I suppose I could pull up my directory and you can surf around there. It's just as complete as Shay's and from my files you can view some of his as well."  
  
Kiba wheeled her chair over to the computer terminal and typed in her access code.  
  
#Welcome Dr. Saron what can I do for you this evening?# an emotionless voice said from the computer.  
  
"Pull up my personal files. Voice activation off, manual controls only."  
  
"Sorry Vita, but you have to do this manually. The computer's set to run by my voice only, unfortunately the other option is the good 'ole keyboard."  
  
"That's all right I don't mind," Vita said ecstatically.  
  
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to in the lab. You'll keep an eye on Vega for me and use the comm. if there is any changes."  
  
Vita only gave her a flick of her wrist telling her she could go; she was too engrossed searching through the files she had been so desperately trying to get her hands on.  
  
#Search: Vega#  
  
#Search Complete: Display results#  
  
###  
Project: Pandora's Box   
  
Phase 3  
  
Subject: Vega  
  
Female. Age unknown. Presumed to be at least 17 or 18, but there is no official birth date. Note: Gene therapy has made it nearly impossible to identify the ages of any subject.   
  
Mother: unknown: Deceased?  
  
Father: Classified: status: unknown  
###  
  
'Now why would the father be classified?'  
  
#Journal Entries: Subject Vega#  
  
#Journal one: Physiological Reports#  
  
###  
Appearance:   
  
Height: 5'8"  
  
Weight:125 lbs  
  
Kiba's notes:  
  
Vega is abnormally strong, even if she is a subject. She displayed amazing amounts of strength even before we started manipulating her DNA composition, at the early age of 11! She's amazing the most promising 'student' since Richard. Similarities, however, are almost too analogous, and have begun to unnerve some of the staff working on this project.  
  
She displays an uncanny ability to mimic any fighting stance and technique taught to her, and she can proficiently combine and create her own attacks in seconds. We pared her up against one of our most elite soldiers and Vega sent him to the hospital in a coma. She learns, while fighting, and improvises while she goes.  
  
She also has an interesting defensive weapon that grows with her: three long blades extend from her knuckles on each hand, and can be sheathed and unsheathed at will. However, we had to insert metal platting over the areas because she would bleed each time they were extended. This problem caused us to believe that they aren't natural and some type of mutation might have occurred while she was younger. There is no species on record to have any apparent bio-weaponry akin to hers, and DNA cross-referencing leads to a dead end.  
  
One other unusual characteristic is her eyes. We are assuming this is hereditary, but as I've said before her ancestry is unknown; I believe that Lycon is trying to keep something under wraps. She has emerald cat eyes, but is sensitive to light and prefers to where glasses when going out, in midday. She also can proficiently see in the dark, as well, which was horrifically demonstrated when one of the male subjects tried to sneak in her quarters at night to 'have a little fun.' We found some remains the next day, none that were identifiable, however.  
###


	10. Searching

###Journal 2: Psychological reports and Psych

Chapter 10:Searching

###Journal 2: Psychological reports and Psych. Evaluations###  
  
###  
  
Vega's genius exceeds that of any Einstein in the Universe. Her intellectual knowledge is beyond anything we comprehend and our enhancements only sought to maximize her gifts. She can solve any mathematical equation and taught herself nuclear physics in one day. She's even helped us occasionally with sequencing and mapping of genes and various problems we encountered, and solved them as if the answer was there all along. I believe some of the other's here are beginning to get jealous that a 16 year old is smarter than they are.  
  
Her evaluations, however, prove to be most disturbing as she began to get older. Resemblances between her and Richard are more prominent and unsettling as the months pass and we fear that the there is a strong likelihood that she will become a sociopath as well.  
  
Other affinities, as well, are nearly just as disturbing. When we questioned her about killing, she responded with the idea that all killing is valid regardless of who the victim is, and has developed a very crude fight or flight response over the years, from field and combat training.   
  
When coming across potential prey, she lacks hesitation or uncertainty, and still prefers to hunt and toy with them as a feline would; rather than go in for the quick kill. Her MO is also similar to Richard's; she prefers the victim's 'sweet spot' to any other possible entries to inflict death.  
  
The psychologists sent in to examine her ran into a slight problem and have recently given up. She began to mimic their movements and body language precisely, as if studying them for weaknesses, and instead of them performing tests on her; she was analyzing them. Unfortunately, the first doctor didn't realize it and when the moment presented itself to Vega, she attacked him and gutted the poor man, splaying his innards all over the room. Protocol from then on required them to be in separate rooms with a shatterproof glass between them.  
  
As much trouble as she has caused, Lycon believes she will become a very good asset to the company in helping them reach their goal.  
  
###  
  
'What type of goal might that be?'  
  
###New search: Pandora's box mission###  
  
###You have 5 seconds to enter the ten-digit code now###  
  
'What!'  
  
###Time is up access denied###  
  
###New search?###  
  
'Well if I can't access those files…'  
  
###Vega's mission objectives###  
  
###Search complete: Displaying results.###  
  
###Journal 3: Mission status###  
  
###  
  
It is sad to say that the Pandora's project has been put on hold. We sent Vega out to begin her field research and when we lost contact with her, we sent operatives to find Vega. When they finally found her she was completely comatose, in a hospital, under Jane Doe. There was no report on how she arrived there, but we have come to believe Richard was too much for her and attempted to kill her. Why he let Vega live is beyond any knowledge or comprehension for any of us to understand.  
  
Subject statues: inoperable: awaiting further instructions.  
  
For the groups sake we all pray she recovers, if she doesn't we're all dead.  
  
###  
  
Vita had been sitting at the computer for nearly two hours. When she glanced up, she noticed Vega staring at her from behind the glass; her breathe creating a mist that Vega had written on. Vita read the letters and screamed, but no one heard her. Her mind read the word over and over again, until it became a taunting voice in her head singing it repeatedly.  
  
'Death'  
  
Vega couldn't help but smile.


	11. Escape

Vita was frozen, her body refusing to do anything but remain in its present position, and Vega just kept on smiling

Chapter 11:Escape

Vita was frozen, her body refusing to do anything but remain in its present position, and Vega just kept on smiling.  
  
Vega reached her hand back and banged on the glass in three precise places, causing Vita to jump each time, and on the fourth punch she unsheathed her blades and broke the 'shatter proof' glass in a million pieces. She jumped up and squatted on the control panel, her eyes steadfast upon Vita's, a glow of madness blazing from them. Her bare feet and hands were bleeding from the broken glass, but she seemed to hardly notice. At that instance Vita tried to lunge towards the emergency button to get help, but never made it; Vega leapt off the panel and pounced on Vita sending her flying into the back wall. In a split second Vega was crouching on top of Vita, before she even realized it.  
  
"Please don't kill me," she whispered.  
  
Vega just chuckled, her hair hanging all around her in knotty clumps, her blood dripping on Vita, and squeezed her hand around Vita's slender throat. Vita began to struggle, punching and clawing at whatever body part she could get her hands on, but to no avail. As everything around her grew black and her body began to go numb Vega spoke.  
  
"Nighty-night Vita," she chuckled.  
  
Swoosh  
  
The door next to Vega opened and in stepped Kiba. Kiba saw the broken glass and immediately ran to hit the emergency alarm, but when she turned and glanced to her left she saw Vega crouched atop a very lifeless body.  
  
"My god." Was the only thing she could say, dropped everything she was carrying, and ran back out of the room.   
  
Vega tried to attack her but she slipped from the blood on her feet and skidded across the floor. She laughed at herself and lazily stood up and stretched. She knew she would have plenty of time to catch her prey and calmly strolled out of the door.  
  
As she walked down the hallways she let her hand lazily trail a path along the walls, leaving streaks of blood in its wake. She knew where Kiba was: She could hear her breathing and smell her fear; and when she passed the medical laboratory, she casually walked past the glass perimeter, but stopped abruptly when she reached the end. She walked back towards the door and snaked her nails across the glass, creating a very unnerving screeching sound. She opened the door, which was so conveniently left unlocked and stepped in. She peered around the pitch-black room slowly meandering around through tables and medical supplies.  
  
"One, two, Vega's coming for you," she began to chant in an eerie voice.  
  
She jumped on top of a long lab table and purposefully rolled a beaker down to the end where she knew that's where Kiba was hiding.  
  
"Three, four, you ain't gunna breath no more," she taunted as she silently made her way towards the cowering doctor.  
  
"Five, six, grab your cru-sa-fix."  
  
She was towering above Kiba, and when Kiba turned to look, she pissed in her pants, as she ran backwards into the wall.  
  
"Seven, eight, gunna meet your fate."  
  
As Vega said these words, she tore through the doctor like butter, and as the life quickly drifted from Kiba, she saw Satin staring back at her, alive and well, with a smile on its face.


	12. Hell's Prison

Hell's Prison

Chapter 12: Hell's Prison  
  
End Flashback: Present  
  
Riddick jolted awake, his entire body throbbed, and his head pounded. He had no clue where he was or for how long he'd been out, but he knew he was alone.  
  
He slowly opened his eyes and saw his goggles and shiv lying beside him, but then he noticed the landscape as well.  
  
"What the FUCK?!"  
  
All around him was lava and fire: molten rock flowed lazily along the barren ground, precipices with lava falls encased a large cavern, and volcanoes and geysers released magma incessantly. There was no sun; there was no moon,  
  
'Shit, I can't even see stars in the sky.'  
  
The only glow of light emanated from the emissions of fire and the blaze from the lava; everything else was encased in feral darkness, Riddick's home.  
  
He made his way slowly along, memorizing everything he crossed, and finally came upon a worn path. He followed it until it ended at the mouth of a cave; there, to his right, Riddick noticed a large boulder with writing on it.  
  
# Petrin's Exile: Yreni Prison: Penal Colony 6: All who stand before here will be judged, and those that enter shall perish. Welcome to hell. #  
  
'What the fuck, I guess I should enter and see what type of Bad Asses are lurking in the dark. To bad they're about to meet there fucking match.'  
  
Riddick pulled his goggles over his head and grabbed his shiv tightly. He silently stalked down the snaking corridor until he came upon an immense cavern, entirely lit by torches, full of a hundred or so, big, ugly men.  
  
'Shit.'  
  
All the noise coming from the hall stopped, as one by one, the convicts noticed the man trespassing on their territory. The men nearest to Riddick stood up, brandishing crude weapons, and menacingly walked towards him.   
  
Riddick, readying himself for attack, meticulously worked a plan in his head to get himself out of this one. To his surprise the men stopped ten feet in front of him, and the middle one spoke.  
  
"Name," he grunted.  
  
Riddick darted his eyes across all of the men and stopped on the one that had spoken to him. He stood normal and with a coy smirk on his face introduced himself.  
  
"Richard B. Riddick," he said smugly.  
  
The man only grunted in response and turned to his companions. After much whispering he looked back at Riddick and spoke again.  
  
"Welcome to your worst nightmare," he said with a grin, a twinkle in his eye, and ushered Riddick inside.  
  
To be Con't...


	13. Initiation

Chapter 7: Initiation

Chapter 13: Initiation  
  
Riddick was brought down another long corridor towards a smaller room with a crude table and chairs.  
  
"Sit," said the man.  
  
Riddick didn't move, but remained standing in the opening, not trusting his new companions.  
  
"I want answers," he stated bluntly.  
  
"Fine, Fine…my name is Kane, to my right is Helos, and to my left is Kahn."  
  
Riddick still stared at the men, unmoving, and Kane plopped down on one of the makeshift chairs while Kahn and Helos shifted uncomfortably, staring at the duo.  
  
"This place, is the worst fucking place a con can be sent. You thought Ursa was bad; this place tops it fucking all. There're no guards, no cells, and no help; we receive no ship with supplies and if you get sick or injured you die. No one cares, no one gives a fuck, and you'll be just another piece of fuel for this fucking planet. This entire planet is dead; a complete ball of lava and dirt made for one fucking unstable planet, save for the few creatures we find, but there is no food otherwise."  
  
"If there is no food how do you eat?"   
  
Riddick thought before Kane answered and when he finally spoke Riddick already knew.  
  
"Cannibalism."  
  
Riddick looked from one man to the other and got in a fighting stance,  
  
"If you think your gonna fucking roast me like some pig…"  
  
"No! No!"   
  
Kane jumped up and said.  
  
"If you had let me finish the history lesson you would have found out."  
  
Riddick grunted in response and the tension quickly relaxed in the room as Kane sat back down and Riddick put away his shiv.  
  
"Now there are six colonies on this planet, we are number six, each with its own leader and so on. The hunting party goes out and raids the other colonies for 'food' and cows…"  
  
"Cows?"  
  
"Yes, cows, now shut up and let me continue. The cows are kept in cages, meant only for our pleasure and the bearing of our children…the boys are kept and made to be warriors and replenish the lost convicts in battle…the girls are kept for future slaves…building of items and weaponry until they are old enough to bear our children. If you like them young however that can be arranged as long as 'it' can still work when you are finished…no one owns any of the cows, they are for everyone to share."  
  
"Women?"   
  
"No cows."  
  
'These people are sick fucks…where the hell am I? I was better of on T2 at least I knew what type of monsters I was dealing with…here, I'm not so sure.'  
  
Riddick's mind was working in overdrive and Kane had to clear his throat to regain Riddick's attention. Riddick snapped back to reality and glared at Kane and his 'crew', wondering just what they had in mind for him.  
  
"What does all this shit have to do with me?"  
  
"Well, we need a leader…Ours died in a previous battle maybe two, three cycles ago and no one's been able to survive the initiation long enough to claim it."  
  
"What's the initiation?" Riddick asked wearily.  
  
"Well, you know those critters I was talking about…they're very useful, every part of 'em, cept for food, and well they're pretty nasty, call them diavolos. Big, like a lion, four tails, with flames at the end, flaming mane as well. Hot as shit to touch and poisonous; if their shooting flames won't kill you the poison in their claws will."  
  
"What does this Fucking HAVE TO DO WITH ME?!"  
  
Riddick was getting impatient with all this shit, he still had no idea how the fuck he got here if there are no drop ships, he didn't know what sector he was in,   
  
~And these fucking crazed psychos eat each other and call their women cows…and they said I was fucked up.~  
  
All three of the men jumped at his outburst and Kane hesitantly spoke up,  
  
"We've all heard about you before we were sent here. You're a fucking legend to us, the ultimate killer…you can survive anything and kill anyone. If you can get a diavolo we can have the cows cultivate their hides and innards for medicines, weapons, armor, clothing, and anything else…you name it we can use them do make it…you see there's something magical about them…"  
  
Riddick stopped the man before he could continue, he could see the fucked up look in Kane's eyes and knew he wasn't all there; the man was past his prime, tall and big with a filthy body and long gray hair and beard to match. Battle scars enveloped his body and the man had a nervous twitch. He noticed Kahn and Helos both looked the same way, tired and weary, from a life of battle and struggle.  
  
~I hope I don't fucking turn out to look like them.~  
  
"All right I'll do it," he spoke up at last.


	14. Myths

Riddick wasn't sure what possessed him to go on this mad run for some fucked up monster, but he knew he had to get away from t

Chapter 14: Myths

Riddick wasn't sure what possessed him to go on this mad run for some fucked up monster, but he knew he had to get away from these people, and think of away to get off of this rock.   
  
He solemnly walked out the door after Kane explained where to find the creatures, leaving the madness behind him,  
  
'I just need to be alone.'  
  
He walked until he came upon the lava pit that Kane had described and slowly climbed his way down, weary of the lava falls, and landed in the center.  
  
Intricate tunnels bore into the walls twisting and turning within each other, and he could hear the faintest of echoes escaping their mouths. Carefully approaching one of the entrances he noticed strange insignias along the sides of each cavity,   
  
'They almost look familiar.'  
  
Regardless of this strange occurrence, he moved forward, and continued down the small, narrow passage. As he got nearer and nearer to the core the space seemed to become smaller and smaller for his massive body, to a point where he had no choice but to crawl on his hands and knees. When he finally reached the end it opened up to a wider area only to lead to another tunnel; the sounds he heard became clearer but seemed farther away some how.  
  
Slowly he made his way through the next channel and came across something covered in the sand and rock,  
  
'What the…'  
  
And when he reached to pick it up, he pulled out a human skull with a large hole in the side.  
  
'Looks like I'm getting close.'  
  
His interest began to amplify itself as his senses kicked into overdrive, but he got a strange feeling, and his instincts were taking over; his mind, the beast, was telling him to get his ass out of there and to stop chasing fairy tales, but he couldn't stop, and that's when he heard it.  
  
He had come to a mediocre opening where he could stand and the hairs on his neck stiffened when he fully entered the area; all around him were bones of past hunters left to rot where they had died, killed by the beasts.  
  
The growl came out of nowhere but when Riddick turned around to face his attacker, what stood before him was no creation of nature but one of science; bigger than a lion, more powerful, and pissed off as hell, mouth foaming and a odd glimmer in its eyes.  
  
What struck Riddick as strange was that he couldn't sense the diavolo as he could other things, it was as if the creature was just reacting, and that's when it all made sense. He wasn't sure what made him believe it or think it would work, call it instinct.  
  
The creature lunged at him, but instead of Riddick fighting back, he slid forward so he was on his back under the diavolo's belly. He placed his shiv in an upward ark from the creature's ass to the belly, and instead of guts and blood splaying Riddick's features, wires and cables fell on top of him.  
  
'Fucking figures these assholes would make A.I (Artificial Intelligence) to scare the living shit out of the convicts, making them believe there was some hideous monster lurking around. The only fucking monster her is ME and the fucking company has thoroughly pissed me the fuck off…but now if these shits are fake, what are they hiding?'  
  
He didn't have time to think long, if he wanted answers he would have to hack into the mainframe before the piece of crap's termination sequence kicked in, and with the looks of things, it was starting.  
  
He moved quickly and even though he didn't figure out everything he wanted to know he found out enough for now and gathered up whatever scrap he thought would be important or salvageable and headed back to Colony 6.


	15. Changes

Chapter 9:Changes

Chapter15: Changes  
  
Riddick stormed back to colony six, dragging the robotic carcass behind him, and charged through the mess hall and back to the room where he left Kane and his goons.  
  
"Here! HERE'S YOUR FUCKING DIAVOLO!!!" Riddick yelled as he threw the immobile pile of steel on the ground   
  
"What the FUCK WERE YOU TRYING TO PULL ASSHOLE!"  
  
"Just calm down Riddick," Kane said patiently.  
  
"I AM CALM…IF I WASN'T YOUR HEAD WOULD BE LYING AT YOUR FUCKING FEET!"  
  
"Now listen…"  
  
"FUCK YOU!"  
  
"I said LISTEN! NOW SIT DOWN AND SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR FIVE GODDAMN SECONDS!" Kane shouted as spittle flew from his mouth.  
  
"I don't take orders," Riddick grated.  
  
"You do now…"  
  
"Do I?" Riddick challenged.  
  
"Kahn, Helos…"  
  
"Don't you fucking try it."  
  
"Now Riddick do you actually think that you could kill the three of us and make it past the mess hall alive?"  
  
Riddick understood when he was fucked and hastily sat down, shiv in hand.  
  
"Good boy."  
  
That only caused to piss Riddick off even more and he lunged at Kane aiming for his throat, but Helos and Kahn were ready and shoved Riddick away knocking him into the wall alongside Kane.  
  
"Don't try and fuck with me Riddick," Kane said coolly, "You're on my territory now and when I say do something you do it WITHOUT QUESTION!"  
  
Riddick slowly stood up from the floor and sat by the chair closest to the exit waiting for Kane to speak.  
  
Kane sat down across from Riddick, Kahn and Helos standing on either side of him with weapons drawn, and the maddened look in his eyes was gone. He looked normal, not as weary or tired as he appeared the first time Riddick had met him, and his men, as well, seemed in better health.  
  
"Just what the hell are you trying to pull Kane?"  
  
"We faked you out, made us look pathetic and strung out, weak and desperate, but like I said before, we need the diavolos, Lycon sent them here to guard that pit, but we don't know why. We need someone to kill them and…"  
  
"Lemme guess I'm the unwilling volunteer?"  
  
"Well…"  
  
"Fuck you…I'm no guinea pig to use on suicide missions."  
  
"You will go back there and kill the clan of them or you can die here, in the torture chambers…the choice is yours."  
  
"YOU FUCKING PRICK!!!"  
  
"Now, now Riddick lets be civilized about this. Killing them will benefit you as well, we've killed a few in the past and with the parts have managed to build various electronics to help us escape, and the current project is a comm. unit to send an S.O.S for rescue."  
  
"Oh right I see, people are just going to hop in their little fucking ships to come down to this shit hole and rescue psychopaths and mass murders, yeah completely fathomable," Riddick said sarcastically.  
  
"They don't fucking know this is a prison you idiot, so either you help us or die where you stand, clocks ticking."  
  
"Like I said before, FUCK YOU!"  
  
"Riddick I don't want to kill you, really, I didn't lie when I said you were a legend around here, but I run things and we need to find out the secret of the pit and we need the parts to get out of here…I can give you some cows as bait to lure the bots out so you can kill them, and we've managed to make pulse pistols from previous parts, so you can have those too."  
  
Kane was in no mood to argue with the man, he had spent too much time on this planet and just wanted to get off, he saw Riddick as their only hope.  
  
"You don't want to be here the rest of your life do you? Me, I was born here and killed my father with my own hands when he went mad, this is not a place I wish to be at or ever remember. I give you my word, my men and I will not lie to you any more, and you can live here and will be safe against invading attacks."  
  
~I'm never safe~  
  
"And what makes you so sure that the other colonies aren't doing the same thing you are?"  
  
"Because Riddick, the other colonies are scared and don't posses what we have."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"You."


	16. Deceit

This chapter may seem confusing to most people, but keep an open mind and think about what's going on

  
Chapter 16: Deceit   
  
"You gotta be fucking kidding me," Riddick said in disbelief, he had gotten up suddenly sending his chair crashing to the floor.  
  
"This is no joke, Riddick, I'm serious."  
  
"And what makes you think I'll trust you?"  
  
"You shouldn't, the minute you slip…I'll be there to make sure you don't get back up," Kane said with a smile.  
  
"Not if you fuck up first."  
  
"So it's a deal?"  
  
Kane extended his hand and Riddick put his left hand out to shake his, but at the last minute gave Kane a right upper cut that sent him flying in the air to the wall.  
  
"Don't fuck with me Kane, that was a warning, next time you won't be so lucky."  
  
Riddick turned on his heels and walked out of the room. Kane slowly got up, rubbing his chin, and turned to Helos.  
  
"Keep an eye on him, I don't want him starting shit."  
  
Helos nodded and walked out of the room to go track down Riddick.  
  
Kane sat back down at the table and motioned for Kahn to join him, they talked for a long time, making plans and ideas, and finally came to a crucial decision that neither one wanted to carry out.  
  
"We need to kill Riddick," Kahn said abruptly, "he's not as stupid as we thought he would be and those fucking robots didn't do their job."  
  
"Yeah I know, but do you think he bought all that shit I told him?" Kane questioned.  
  
"I don't know man, all the more reason to ghost his ass, but if he finds out the truth we're all fucked."  
  
"I just don't know why that fucking general couldn't do this shit himself. He fucking sends us those P.O.S. prototypes and look what the fuck happens, I mean, if he's such a fucking threat why not just fry him or something…Ya know one of those mindless droids they be making now."  
  
"Hey man, I know just as much as you do Kane, but if he finds out what's really beyond those fucking walls and under the colonies, you can bet were going to get fucked up the ass ten ways from Sunday…We need to call in some reinforcements…these workers just ain't going to cut it against him."  
  
"I know, I know, do you think we should call Drayco? Ask him to get some special ops to do a 'garbage run' and clean the shit up?"  
  
"ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID!!! That means we'd be handing our asses over to Lycon on a silver platter, and I sure as hell aint going down for this bull shit."  
  
"Alright Kahn, chill the fuck out, if not them who?"  
  
With a sinister smile Kahn looked dead straight at Kane.  
  
"I got it covered."  
  
As Kane and Kahn continued to discuss their plans to save their own asses and their dirty business, there in the shadows out of sight of the men, two silver orbs gleamed in the darkness.


	17. The Call

Chapter 10

Chapter 17: The Call  
  
"Please, who the fuck do you know that could take on Riddick?" Kane asked bemused.  
  
Kahn calmly walked over to a hidden panel in the wall and entered an IP address to a computer for contact.  
  
"She's a tracker, the best out there, no one knows where she came from though. Just appeared five years ago and will do any job if the price is right," Kahn informed Kane from over his shoulder.  
  
"I can't contact her directly, but I'll send her a message and just hope she'll respond."  
  
"And what makes you think she will?"  
  
"Like I said…if the price is right…"  
  
Kane snorted and walked over to a hidden stash of liquors, grabbing to bottles, and sat back down.  
  
Kahn walked back over and joined his friend, taking a long swallow of the 'poison',  
  
"Shit man, remember when this place first came to be…we were damn lucky…"  
  
***  
Petrin's Exile was originally a penal colony, meant only for the hideous of convicts; until Lycon realized what an abundance of Corralite was hidden beneath the crust.  
  
Corralite was a rare metal, very malleable, but when heated and combined with simple metals, became an impenetrable field. Lycon would pay millions to get their hands on this rare piece of rock and when they discovered the planet to be made of it, decided to make a little investment.  
  
They came down and offered the convicts a deal, dig their minerals, get paid, and receive freedom after 15 years of hard labor. The conditions were hard and the environment rougher, but the chance for freedom left the convicts with an offer they couldn't refuse. Those that disobeyed, however, were immediately disposed of.  
  
The cons and government worked out an agreement, as long as Lycon continued getting its precious Corralite the cons lived freely on the planet; they received food, water, supplies, and clothing on a monthly basis.  
  
The beasts were kept in the pit, as protectors for the stores of Corralite, and the only people with access were the leaders of the six colonies. Every month a drop ship would enter the heart of the pit to drop off supplies and to pick up its shipment and afterward would leave.  
  
The woman prisoners were kept there as sex slaves, but were not allowed to leave, they usually never survived past a few years from the brutality they suffered anyway. They were meant for the sole enjoyment of the men; Lycon felt it would help keep them less hostile and with the fresh supply of children they would have workers for life.  
  
Some years down the line, they discovered that this particular genre of Corralite contained mutative properties when combined with DNA strands, ands that's when they started with their first test subjects.  
  
Everything was going well until Riddick escaped from their grasp and almost stumbled upon his own origins; they had thought he had died on the Hutner Gratzner, but were fooled. He remained aloof for many years and when they finally tracked him down, General Drayko realized he had had created the perfect predator, and knew he couldn't remain alive. He knew Lycon wouldn't be pleased if they dirtied their hands in such matters and thought the murderers in Hell's prison could handle the job.  
  
They all knew Richard B. Riddick, all respected him, but they money was theirs if they succeeded, and they offer was to enticing.  
  
Kane, Kahn, and Helos were they only leaders of the six colonies to accept such a death threat, but they misjudged Riddick's skill, he was better than they had ever suspected. They however knew if they failed the general, their heads would be at his feat, and they weren't willing to die so easily.  
  
***  
A beeping from the computer brought the men out of their stupor and directed their attention towards the holo screen.  
  
A message bleeped at them, one that caused both men to smile a wide, toothy grin.  
  
###  
Offer accepted  
  
Payment: 5 mill. half upon arrival, half when job is complete.  
  
Arrival in 1600 hours  
  
You fuck with me gentlemen and I'll tear you a new asshole.  
###  
  
  
"Ha! What a woman, I like her already!" Kane sneered.  
  
"You won't like her so much if and when you piss her off."


	18. Arrival

Riddick loomed out of the shadows, shiv in hand, and approached the men

Chapter 18: Arrival

Riddick loomed out of the shadows, shiv in hand, and approached the men.  
  
Kahn and Kane jumped out of their seats, staring at the glistening shiv, and began stammering excuses.  
  
"Hey! Ri-Riddick…How ya doin hiccup buddy?" Kane stammers.  
  
"SHUT THE FUCK UP! I TOLD YOU NOT TO DOUBLE CROSS ME YOU MOTHER FUCKERS AND NOW…well and now you'll pay the price…slip and don't get up, remember?" he finished calmly.  
  
He rushed at them and the entire cavern echoed the sound of their screams, only to include Helos when he entered into the fray. After 6 hours of torture, the cries can still be heard; ghost's whispers traveling through the air.  
  
  
  
She steps off her ship, senses immediately alert; here ears picking up something as she prepares herself.  
  
'Screams?'  
  
She hides her ship with various cloaking devices, the only evidence that its there is the steady beeping on her wrist from a slender metal band.  
  
She probes the ground, testing her footing, not sure how stable Petrin's Exile really is; armed and ready to wreak havoc, she moves towards the coordinates given to her.  
  
Tall, strong, and beautifull; long, layered brown and streaked hair adorn a slender caramel face with bright green eyes, that probe the area around her, and full sensuous lips, while long, lithe legs carry her across the landscape towards her quarry and her payday.  
  
Her muscular body is protected from the heat by a black, bio zip-up jumpsuit and knee-high boots; each with weapons tucked safely away from prying eyes. Her long flowing cape, wiping behind her as she moves, dubs as a fire resistant cloth and bullet proof sheath, and hides her face well.  
  
She reaches the entrance of the cave and notices a rock with writing on it.  
  
"Stupid fucking warnings," she mutters aloud.  
  
She strides along the corridor and directly to the mess hall, where at the current moment a very large disturbance was occurring, and she stays hidden amongst the shadows to watch the scene unfold.  
  
Riddick was fending off some very pissed off cons as they slowly circled him waiting for their time to strike.  
  
'Fucking figures I have to fuck all these assholes up to get out of this shit hole…I knew I shouldn't have taken so much time killing those pricks…I could have at least gagged them first.'  
  
One man lunged at Riddick, but he rolled away, and instead hit the man directly across from him, sending them both over the edge to the ground thirty feet below.  
  
She watched excitedly as the noticed a man creeping up behind Riddick with a strange looking weapon, but her smile soon faded when the dropped like a fly. Growing tired of the one sided battle, she walks out of the shadows and fired her pulse pistol in to the air a few times.  
  
Time stopped.  
  
Everyone turned to look at her, and Riddick with a confused, backed away from the other men and slipped away unnoticed.  
  
"Well it's good to see I have all of your attentions, I'm sorry I had to pull you away from 'let's see who's got more balls' but it was obvious you all were going to die."  
  
"HEY FUCK YOU COW!" someone shouted in front of her.  
  
"Cow? Do I look like I have utters to you?"  
  
"Let's show this COW who're the REAL men around here," shouted the same idiot.  
  
'Men, when will the ever learn.'


	19. Getaway

Chapter 12: Getaway 

Chapter 19: Getaway   
  
The first man lunged at her and quicker than the blink of an eye was decapitated; his head rolling lost on the floor.   
  
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks; she had no weapon.  
  
"What? No one wants to play anymore?" she asked sardonically, " I thought you were going to teach me a lesson."  
  
The convicts remained still, eyeing the stranger warily, until one shouted from the crowd.  
  
"What do you want from us?"  
  
"It's not what…it's who."  
  
Meanwhile…  
  
Riddick had been hiding in the shadows as he made his escape, the sounds of the fight traveling to his ears; it must have distracted him, before he knew it he was knocked face first into the dirt.  
  
He awoke shortly after to find himself chained, in what appeared to be, one of the various torture rooms this establishment had constructed.  
  
Riddick glanced around, testing his restraints, trying to figure a way out of this mess, when a woman's voice startled him.  
  
"It won't work, there made with some reinforced coralite."  
  
~Why can't I see her or sense her?~  
  
"How did you get here?" she asked, stepping into his line of sight.  
  
Riddick glared at the woman and tugged briefly at his restraints.  
  
"Relax Riddick, if I wanted you dead to collect on the money, I would have done it while you were still knocked out. Now how did you get here?"  
  
He still refused to answer.  
  
"Fuck you," he grated.  
  
"Listen, I don't have much time to play this lovely game of who has bigger balls… I'll get the answer out of you one way or another…it's up to you."  
She had stepped right up to him, inches away from his face, and could feel the air escaping him every time he exhaled.  
  
"Why the fuck should I tell you anything?"  
  
"Do you want to get out of here?"  
  
"Why so you can just turn me in when you're done using me? Fuck you lady…I don't need this shit. My recommendation, do me, before I get shiv happy on your wannabe ass."  
  
The woman grabbed his face roughly and glared into his goggled eyes.  
  
"You're really trying my patience, but fine you don't want to tell me…I'll leave you here to become ass buddies with your friends."  
  
She began to back away and walk towards the door  
  
"FUCK YOU!" he yelled tugging furiously on his chains.  
  
"No, no, my dear Richard, you'll be fucking all the psychos here once I walk out the door. There's a line you know," she said teasingly, trying to entice him to come with her.  
  
Riddick sat quietly for a moment thinking about the woman's words and fighting with himself for an answer, he knew he couldn't get out of here without help, but also knew if he went with this woman he would get royally fucked up the ass; either way Riddick knew he was screwed, but he'd much rather be dicked over by a woman than several hundred men.  
  
"Fine," he mumbled, defeated.  
  
"That's all I wanted to hear," she smiled as she quickly walked over to him.  
  
As she began to release his restraints, the convicts began to furiously bang on the door.  
  
"Hey times up cow! He's ours now! Open the fucking door BITCH!"  
  
She tossed him a couple of weapons and Riddick nodded to signal he was ready as she opened the door.  
  
She threw a stun light blaster at them, creating a blinding light that caused them to back up. This gave the duo just enough room to make it out the door unscathed. The prisoners were following close behind; just as they made it to the exit one large con stood in the way, blocking the entire hole.  
  
Riddick didn't stop running; he plowed right into the man sending him flying backward, and as he ran over him, shot him in the head.  
  
They stopped running when they were a safe distance from the colony and Riddick turned to the woman.  
  
"How the fuck are we getting out of here?"  
  
"With this…"  
  
She clicked a button on the small metal band on her wrist and a ship slowly came into view directly in front of them.  
  
Riddick walked up to it and examined it closely.  
  
~State of the art fighting ship, with several modifications' he smirked to himself as he noted all the 'home improvements' installed on the ship~  
  
"Nice huh?" she asked proudly.  
  
Riddick just grunted in response, "So can we get the fuck out of here?"  
  
She released the lock mechanism on the hatch and she stepped in with Riddick following close behind, she walked up to the control deck, and was about to sit in the pilot's seat when she felt the end of the gun pointed at the back of her head.  
  
"Move."  
  
She couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"What the fuck are you laughing at?"  
  
"Make me," she wheezed through her laughing.  
  
Riddick smelt no fear, which unnerved him.  
  
"Bitch, I said move your fucking ass now."  
  
"Make me," she said seriously this time.  
  
Riddick was about to hit her when she spun around suddenly and kneed him in the groin and then giving him an uppercut which had him sprawled on the floor, lying on his back.  
  
In a split second the woman was on top of him, straddling his waist, gun pointed between his eyes, and the other had a blade pushed against his neck.  
  
"Don't fuck with me Riddick," she growled.  
  
Riddick was pissed, furious actually, the animal within him wanted to tear the bitch to pieces and drink her blood, but he remained calm on the outside; showing no emotion he just stared at her.  
  
"Can't blame me for trying," he smiled wryly.  
  
~She's good~ he had to admit that, but he was better.  
  
"No…" that was all she was able to get out. Riddick had her flipped over before she even realized it, and he pressed all his weight against her, crushing her between him and the floor.  
  
"Don't fuck with me either," he smiled at her again.  
  
"So what's your name?" he asked as he pushed the shiv deeper into her throat.  
  
"Vega." And smiled psychotically back at him.  
  
Riddick's entire body went tense as he jumped off of her, aiming the gun directly at her head.  
  
"But your dead."


	20. Haunting Past

Vega waited patiently, steadily tapping her foot against the cool metal floor of the ship, as Riddick slowly regained his stea

Chapter 20: Haunting Past

Vega waited patiently, steadily tapping her foot against the cool metal floor of the ship, as Riddick slowly regained his steadfast composure.  
  
"Your dead." He said again cocking the gun.  
  
"Listen, if your goin' ta shoot me, than fucking do it already…because if we don't get out of here, NOW, it won't be a fucking pretty picture."  
  
Riddick regarded her for a moment, lowering the gun and sat down in the pilot's seat, and prepared for launch.  
  
"What the fuck did you do?"  
  
V stared at Riddick fuming, ignoring his question.  
  
He stared up and viewed her through the reflection on the glass,  
  
"Is there a fucking problem? Sit down so we can take the fuck off."  
  
"You're not flying MY ship."  
  
Vega crossed her arms and challenged him.  
  
"Well if you want to get off this fucking fireball, than I suggest you sit your fucking ass down in the co-pilot's seat and shut the fuck up, because I'm flying…end of discussion."  
  
The look Riddick gave her would have made any normal person become immobile with fear, but Vega gave him the finger, smacked him in the back of the head, and plopped down in the co-pilot's seat.  
  
Riddick turned his head slowly, and with the lightning speed of a cobra, lunged at her, gripping her throat tightly.  
  
"Don't EVER hit me again, understand? We're not friends and even if we were I'd kill you without hesitation," he grated through clenched teeth.  
  
"Fuck you," she seethed out as he squeezed off her air, "and get your fucking hands off me before I shred you to pieces."  
  
Despite her position, the threat was enough to get Riddick off her, he wasn't stupid, Riddick knew there was something about her he was missing, but he didn't know what.  
  
Riddick sat back down, calmly, and asked again; this time he received a response.  
  
"The cows are coming out to graze…" she smirked wryly.  
  
They lifted off, the thrusters drowning the agonizing screams from the men on the planet below.  
  
Riddick remained silent, impassive, staring out into the cold expanse of emptiness, images of his past filtering through his mind.  
  
***  
She had been running endlessly for three days, cold, hungry, and almost naked; her feet bloodied and blistered from the constant impact on the harsh pavement.  
  
They were chasing her, always chasing her, and she could feel it; a slow suffocation that was killing her everyday she remained in their control.  
  
She had to get away, to run. To survive.  
  
She hit something suddenly… a building?   
  
When her head cleared and she glanced up, it wasn't a wall, but a man, a very large and menacing man.  
  
Her eyes probed his muscle-laced body, covered in all black, but the eyes unnerved her; they were covered with goggles.  
  
She scrambled away and looked over her shoulder; she could sense them, they were near.  
  
The girl went to get back up, but was grabbed by her tattered shirt and dragged further into the alley.  
  
Something inside the young woman told her she would be safe; she remained calm as she was brought down into an abyss of darkness.  
  
His breath was hot against her neck, sending chills down her spine in the cool night air, and his chest was hard against her back. Riddick's arms enwrapped her body in a muscular case of security as he held her firmly against him.  
  
Their breaths moving as one, a single being hidden in the shadows.  
  
The men ran into the alley, probing every corner, every crevice, looking for the subject. Their lights left no shadow undiscovered, but they past by the hole without a second glance, never even noticed it.  
  
When Riddick sensed the danger had past he slowly let her go and flung her against the opposite wall; before she had the chance to react he had a shiv firmly placed against her neck, keeping her from moving.  
  
The girl swallowed, never breaking contact with his goggled eyes she whispered:  
  
"Just make it quick."  
  
She closed her eyes waiting for the mysterious man to take the life he moments before saved, and when nothing happened she opened them again.  
  
She looked at him quizzically and opened her mouth again to speak, but he stopped her with his hand; covering her lips with his massive palm to keep her silent.  
  
Footsteps were coming towards them and he leaned in closer, crushing her small body against the cold, moist wall.  
  
The man stopped above the opening and a large beam of light appeared inside their safe haven. It probed the darkness for its quarry and slowly came closer to the two. Riddick pushed closer still, and with a will of their own, her nipples perked with the rough contact.  
  
He looked down at her, but she was starring wide eyed at the treacherous beam centimeters from them, but just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished; the sounds of the footsteps drifting further and further away.  
  
The girl breathed a sigh of relief and let her body relax, but when she realized Riddick hadn't broken the contact she grew rigid and swung her head to face him.  
  
He stood there, looking at her under his goggles, memorizing her every feature, taking her scent, and enjoying the contact.  
  
It was by chance that she ran into him and why he saved her he wasn't sure.  
  
He was in the mood to shed some blood and he heard the pedophile Mad Max was in the area, the animal within him raging for release.  
  
Riddick was close, he could sense the man, but was interrupted by the collision, and his instincts told him someone was coming; he could smelled the fear radiating from the young girl's body.  
  
He grabbed her and was surprised that she didn't fight him and how relaxed she was propped against his body.  
  
He would make her scared.  
  
It surprised him more when she said to kill her, no fear evident in her voice, but it intrigued him why she wouldn't beg for her life like so many others had. Everyone facing Richard B. Riddick tried any means necessary to escape the hands of the grim reaper, but no…  
  
~She's different.~  
  
Riddick backed away slowly to the other side of the hole, waiting to see what she would do.  
  
The girl remained still, eyeing him wearily, then slowly she took a step forward and another until she could feel his breath brush her eyelashes.  
  
She reached her hand up slowly and traced the line of his face with her fingers, bringing them up hesitantly to remove his goggles.  
  
She gasped at his eyes and brought her other hand up to bring his head lower. She looked directly at him and whispered,  
  
"Your eyes shine like mine do in the dark."  
  
She smiled happily and kissed his forehead.  
  
Riddick blinked a few times, not believing this shit was happening.  
  
"You have shined eyes?" his voice rumbled.  
  
"No, not like yours, but like a cat's." she grinned.  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
She took a step back and reached out her right hand.  
  
"Eve V. Nubriani…and you?"  
  
"Richard B. Riddick," he said nonchalantly as he extended his hand out to take hers.  
  
She smirked at him knowingly.  
  
"Well of all the people to smash into, I get saved by a psycho…Aww Riddick you're my hero!" she laughed light heartedly at him.  
  
"Don't thank me yet kid," he grumbled rubbing his hand over his stubbled head.  
  
She began to shake uncontrollably and cursed under her breath before she passed out.  
  
***  
  
"Riddick…Riddick…you in there…you're not going all spacey on me are ya?"  
  
He looked up at Eve and could see the pain in his eyes; she wanted to comfort him but didn't know if she could, those feelings lost to her many years ago.  
  
"What were you thinking about?" she asked and resisted the sudden urge to sit in his lap like nothing had changed, like she had done so many times before.  
  
He grimaced suddenly; images of that day flooded his mind, and stared ahead avoiding her searching eyes.  
  
She sighed unhappily at his constant avoidance, and stared into the vast expanse of space, as well, wallowing in the silence.  
  
"A lot's changed," Riddick finally spoke.  
  
Eve looked at him, examining his physique for any sign of emotion; she received nothing.  
  
"What were you thinking about Riddick?"  
  
Riddick finally met her gaze and acknowledged the sadness in her eyes.  
  
~It's been ten fucking years, how does she expect me to react?~  
  
He tilted his head to one side, eyeing her womanly form, and without thinking traced his finger along the line of her jaw.  
  
"The day we met."  
  
Feedback Please 


	21. Strange Ties

***

Chapter 21: Strange Ties

***  
Eve woke to the sounds of water running, but when she tried to move her head the entire room began to spin. She groaned loudly and pushed her palm to her head as she rolled on her side.  
  
"How you feeling?" rumbled the voice from the other room.  
  
"Like a hover craft landed on my head…what happened?"  
  
"You started shaking, then passed out."  
  
Riddick was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.  
  
"Fuck me."  
  
"Said that too."  
  
"Fuck you."  
  
"Say that enough and I might take you up on that offer."  
  
Eve's eyes grew wide and she wrapped herself in the lone, meager blanket for protection.  
  
"Don't look at me like that," he said annoyed, "I may be a murderer but I don't rape woman and I'm sure as hell not a pedophile."  
  
Riddick rubbed his head in frustration, he didn't know what to do with a kid, and he certainly didn't want a tag along.  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
"16."  
  
He grunted his disapproval.  
  
"Where' your family?"  
  
"Don't know."  
  
"Why'd you run away from them?"  
  
"I didn't."  
  
"Then who'd you run away from?"  
  
"The company."  
  
"What company?"  
  
"Lycon."  
  
Riddick had begun to grow irritated with this question and answer session, but the minute that one word hit his ears, he grew enraged. He walked away, leaving Eve alone in the single bedroom.  
  
He clenched his jaw furiously and sat down heavily on one of the kitchen chairs, resting his elbows on the table.  
  
Eve gracefully stepped out of bed, despite her wooziness, and silently walked over to Riddick. She placed her hand on his shoulder and he spun around quickly, squeezing his hand around her already bruised throat, and lifted her off the floor; recognition quickly crossed his features and he carefully set her back down.  
  
"You can't sneak up on me like that…"  
  
'Sneak up? I never heard her…???'  
  
"I know, I should know better."  
  
She sat down across from him and waited for him to sort his thoughts.  
  
"What does Lycon want with you?" he finally asked.  
  
"To get you back."  
  
Riddick stared at her disbelievingly and he had the sudden urge to gut her where she sat. Eve sensed he was pissed and began to explain.  
  
"Relax, I'm not turning you in."  
  
"How can I be…"  
  
She cut Riddick off with the wave of her hand.  
  
"Let me finish and then you can make any comment you want."  
  
Eve paused, making sure she had Riddick's full attention, and continued.  
  
"The deal was to send me on field observation for six months ago, to start tracking you; to get to know your habits, daily routines, planets you visited often, and then I would report it back to them so they could figure out a pattern.   
  
I was to report to them twice a day…stupid fucks trusted that I was 'trained' enough not to go AWOL.   
  
In return I would be granted full ranking status within them, I wouldn't be a lab experiment anymore…  
  
So I agreed, and after they developed a sufficient pattern to your actions I was to intercept you and capture you alive.   
  
Two weeks ago I hacked into their classified files and discovered their true plans, what this project was really meant for…I was tired of their shit, their lies…so I broke contact and ran…  
  
Been running ever since, but they caught up to me three days ago and if they catch me…shit I couldn't even begin to think what they would do."  
  
Riddick stared at Eve, letting her story sink in, contemplating the level of bullshit and truth; if he should kill her or let her live, for now.  
  
"So what do they want with me…I made it pretty clear 15 years ago that I wasn't a fucking guinea pig."  
  
"They wanted to continue where they left off…apparently you're to valuable to their work to just let go. Why do you think there's such a high bounty on your head?"  
  
"Because I'm a psycho and broke out of prison."  
  
"True, but you're the missing piece to the puzzle and they need you alive to complete it…that's why they the mercs only get half if you're dead."  
  
"Why did they need you?"  
  
"I'm the only one that can catch you."  
  
Riddick drew his eyebrows up in a disbelieving manner and leaned towards her on the table.  
  
"And how's that?"  
  
"Because I'm their promising pupil and the only other survivor to the project besides you…"  
  
He waited for Eve to continue, but she hesitated, trying to find the words to explain.  
  
"After you destroyed all the subjects of phase one and two and torched the first research center, they lost all the data…they had to start from scratch…picking new people to experiment on. They didn't survive past the first year, except me that is…I don't know how they acquired me…they always told me I was special…and never said anything more…they trained me, tortured me…made me like you, but I was still different…I could feel it…I…I didn't…want to be what they were creating…you're the reason the research center was founded…that's all I know…the system isn't that easy to hack into."  
  
Eve wasn't making any sense and began to tune her out, sorting through his thoughts. Riddick had never understood the reasons why Lycon had picked him, or why he had abilities most people didn't, he never understood why he was put through those tests and training…he trusted them and sacrificed his life for them…they royally fucked him.   
  
When he had left he had pushed the questions to the farthest recesses of his mind and had nearly forgotten them until now.  
  
"But why?"  
  
"I told you…I don't know…I got kicked out of the system before I could find out more…all that shit was a garble of crap that I had to put together and decipher…in some lost forgotten language…they're protecting something, I just need to find out what.   
  
I don't know why you or I were chosen…all I know is I'm threw being their bitch…and I'm happy I ran into you…"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Damn you're naïve…because you understand what I'm going through, what I've been through: the pain, the training, the injections, the horror they make you cause…"  
  
"Understand? YOU think you've had it bad? YOU have no idea what I'VE been through…try being left in a trash bin as a newborn, left to die…living your life as a guinea pig…being used…spending most of you're pathetic life in a slam, never seeing the light of day…having your eyes shined to survive…or living your life with a horse bit in your mouth…only having pain to remind you you're alive…you have no idea little girl…and don't ever begin to think you do!" Riddick was yelling now; his face a contorted mask of rage.  
  
"I…I was…"  
  
Eve never bothered to finish; she walked away and locked herself in the bathroom where she cried herself to sleep.  
  
After that night they never discussed their pasts, but still remained together; neither admitting that they enjoyed the other's company.


	22. The Sweet Spot

They remained together for a little over a year and Riddick even gave her a present on her seventeenth birthday; a shiv made f

Chapter 22: The Sweet Spot

They remained together for a little over a year and Riddick even gave her a present on her seventeenth birthday; a shiv made from a strong, cool, black material. Onyx, Riddick called it.  
  
Eve loved the blade,  
  
"Thank you,"   
  
She had said when she jumped in his arms and enveloped him in a huge, bone-crushing hug, while silent tears streamed down her face.  
  
It was just the right size to fit in her small hand, curving like a talon extending as if it was part of her. Riddick trained her; taught her skills, ones the company could never hope to instill in her.  
  
Eve learned fast and became an extension of him, she had known almost every technique he displayed, but he gave her the street sense to go along with it. Riddick taught her how to hone in on her already heightened senses; to pick up the various scents people emitted and the feelings associated with them.  
  
Eve Nubriani became just like him, learnt the art of survival, and intern she gave Riddick a piece of her heart, a piece he would relish in for all time and a piece he would never forget.  
  
  
  
They had retired to their separate quarters, but neither slept, their minds working in overtime; remembering things they wished to forget, living past experiences that haunted them, and thinking of the other, wondering how it was going to be from now on.  
  
Could they continue? Could they forget? Live like nothing happened…like the past never existed?   
  
Eve was the first to get up and she lazily walked to the kitchen, where she poured herself some vodka.  
  
"You old enough to drink?"  
  
"What the fuck do you think."  
  
He came out of the shadows and propped his massive form against the doorway.  
  
"What are you 27 now?"  
  
'Still look like you're 17 though' he thought.  
  
"No…I'm 22."  
  
"It's been ten years."  
  
"Yeah but spending five fucking years in a cyst tank'll fucking do that to ya…no aging for the technically dead."  
  
Riddick moved from the doorway and sat on top of the table. Eve handed him the bottle and she sat atop the counter next to him, resting her one foot on a chair and the other was splayed across the counter top.  
  
They remained silent for a moment, until Riddick broke the uncomfortable silence.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
Eve knew what he meant, but she wasn't sure if she had the strength to tell him; the memories still haunted her sleep at night.  
  
"Parts are still blurry…it's hard to remember much of my past anyway," she finally spoke.  
  
***  
Riddick had gone out that night, on the prowl, when he got wind of some mercs that landed on Torca; Eve stayed home, peacefully watching the midnight news.  
  
It was a month and a half after her 17th birthday, the tension growing between her and Riddick. There was more than friendship between the two, but neither would admit that it was more than a type of 'family love' – Riddick went to brothels more and more and Eve became sexually frustrated; being raped and beaten all her life, she never had the chance to willingly fall for someone, until him.  
  
An odd noise bought her attention to the present.  
  
She flipped over the back of the sofa and grabbed her shiv, without making a noise; she never did tell Riddick about her hands and crept towards the door.  
  
'Muffled footsteps, trying too hard to be quiet…cheap cologne…drugs…muffled voices"  
  
Parts of their conversation traveled to her sensitive ears,  
  
"Room 101…Riddick…big bucks…on the count…ready…"  
  
Without hesitation Eve flung the door open, lunged at the two men, sending them flying into the opposite wall.  
  
Her shiv connected with the one merc's abdomen and she gutted him clean, sending his innards toppling to the floor. The second merc, however, knocked her blade out of her hand before she could swing around and slit his throat. Eve spun and extended her blades, slicing clean across his chest, but he was too far away to do serious damage.  
  
He lunged at Eve and caught her off balance, she toppled to the floor, and he butted her with the blunt end of his rifle; knocked her out.  
  
When Eve came to, she was bound to Riddick's bed with strong metal wire, and the asshole was standing above her.  
  
"Well, well, look who decided to wake up."  
  
He straddled Eve, taking her shiv, and slowly began to cut away her clothing; she began to bleed as he dug the blade into her skin.  
  
Eve wouldn't cry, she refused to; she wouldn't give him the satisfaction or the pleasure, her innocence was taking many years before by the man she should have been able to trust; she was through crying. She stared out into nothingness, severing her body and mind, as she learned to do so many times before.  
  
When he entered her, she didn't notice, when he ravaged her over and over, she didn't cry out, and when her beat her senseless when he was finally spent, she didn't flinch.   
  
He finally began to tire and withdrew the shiv again; spreading her legs, he carved in her inner thigh his name,  
  
'Johns'.  
  
Johns untied her, opened the window, and threw her out into the dumpster below, then proceeded to clean up the mess.  
  
Johns would wait for Riddick to find the surprise he left him, the only clue was the window.  
  
Riddick returned home just before dawn, tired and horny, he didn't find the mercs and didn't feel like going to the brothel. He would tell her how he felt; no more hiding and no more games, he had to know, but when he reached the complex he immediately knew something wasn't right.  
  
He could smell the familiar scent of copper in the air.  
  
Riddick quickly made his way to the room and listened carefully before he entered; not a sound escaped. He went in cautiously, scanning the darkness for anything, but everything was as he left it.  
  
"Eve?"  
  
No answer  
  
He walked into her room.  
  
Empty.  
  
The bathroom.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Riddick stood in front of his door and was greeted with a sinking feeling in the bottom of his stomach.  
  
"Eve?"  
  
The room smelt of sex and blood, but the bed was perfectly made, and not a thing was out of place.  
  
The window: the cool breeze drifted in slowly as a shiver went down Riddick's spine; her scent came with it.  
  
He stormed over to the window, scanning the alleyway for any signs of Eve, but he saw nothing. Riddick was about to turn away when something caught his eye.  
  
"What the…"  
  
He almost jumped out of the window, but thought otherwise. Instead, Riddick sprinted down the four floors in record time, knocking people over; all the while his mind was racing.  
  
'Please don't let it be her. Please no. Let it be a junkie, dear god, just let it be someone else.'  
  
Riddick knew he was wrong.  
  
He reached the heap of garbage, leaned in, and pulled the object out.  
  
Their staring lifelessly back at him, was a bruised and beaten young girl…his Eve.  
  
She was almost naked, save for a few tattered remains of her underwear, and her body was bruised and bleeding…  
  
'She's bleeding?'  
  
Riddick felt a sudden rush of hope well in his frozen heart, but when he couldn't find a pulse, the feeling died as quickly as it was born.  
  
'Must be my eyes.'  
  
Riddick couldn't help it, he let the tears fall; he truly had begun to love this young spirited girl, who looked up to him, trusted him.  
  
He carried the body to a hospital and left her there, whispering his last goodbyes to the one person he ever loved.  
  
His eyes caught something on her inner thigh and he gingerly moved her leg to see.  
  
"Johns," he whispered.  
  
"You rang?" a voice from the shadows echoed.  
  
Riddick's mind became a bloody rage as the animal within him roared furiously for release. He lunged at Johns without thinking but he aimed a gun directly between the con's eyes.  
  
"Riddick, Riddick, Riddick, getting sloppy with your old age aren't you?" Johns taunted, "tell me something…was she just as sweet for you? "  
  
The look in Riddick's eyes would have driven the devil himself back to hell, but he remained quiet, calculating his next move.  
  
"What, she never gave it to you? Too bad you could have had that tight body under you moaning your name…but I'll tell you one thing… she was tight…never had a piece that nice before…maybe I'll go over there and have another go, you can watch," he said with a sardonic smile plastered across his face.  
  
That was it, Riddick had heard enough; the beast roared from his cage and before John's couldn't even react, Riddick was already gone.  
  
John's lay on the pavement, immobile and numb, Riddick had left him a present.  
  
He went for the sweet spot and missed.


	23. Dominance

Eve depicted the scenario that occurred as if she was describing a story she heard on the news, completely detached and void o

Chapter 23: Dominance

Eve depicted the scenario that occurred as if she was describing a story she heard on the news, completely detached and void of any emotions.  
  
Riddick couldn't believe it.  
  
"I never should have left."  
  
"It's not your fault," she sighed, " I was stubborn, wanted to fight instead of run like you had always told me…should've paid more attention. I left myself open for the attack."  
  
"But if I was there…"  
  
"You would have been caught and bought to the slam. Forget it, it's in the past, leave it there; you of all people understand that you can't change it. 'Sides, since when have you cared about anyone but yourself? Weren't you the one that told me the #1 rule is to your own ass first and always? And the oh so important second rule…never forget #1."  
  
Riddick rubbed his day old stubble atop his head in frustration.  
  
'I need a shave'  
  
"You know I always cared about you."  
  
"Things are different now Riddick, said so yourself. You've changed, I've changed…sure you still care about me after all this time? After what I've become?… Whatever, it's not important, let me just take you to where you need to be and then you and I can forget this little unwelcome reunion."  
  
Eve leapt off the countertop and began to walk out of the kitchen.  
  
"Eve…"  
  
She stopped dead in her tracks and spun on her heals to face him.  
  
"Don't you call me that, don't you dare…that person died ten years ago. It's Vega now. Never forget that," she growled.  
  
Eve was gone.  
  
"Fuck"  
  
Riddick remained there the rest of the night; he didn't sleep, didn't need it, learned to function without it living in the slam. He was still there when Vega bound into the kitchen in her panties and tank top.  
  
Riddick's breath caught in his throat; her hair was now a mass of tangled curls and the maddened look of a killer gone, replaced by the sleepy cast of innocence that he would always remember and could never forget.  
  
He felt the familiar tugging in his groin; he had to use all of his control to keep from ripping her clothes off and taking her on the kitchen table.  
  
'What the fuck! It's been too long.'  
  
Vega turned her back to Riddick and bent over to grab a bowl, which caused his eyes to nearly pop out of his head. Riddick scrambled out of his chair and walked out. Eve got back up ad placed the two bowls on the counter.  
  
"What do you want for…Riddick?"  
  
She snorted and muttered 'figures' under her breath. Vega sat alone for breakfast and when she finished rose to put some shorts on, then headed over to her workout room.  
  
Riddick ignored her, but her scent traveled to his nostrils, sending his body afire.  
  
Vega grabbed a VR head set off a table in the far corner and place it on her head. She then started a fighting simulation; Vega began her workout and Riddick couldn't take his eyes off her body.  
  
She moved with such grace such finesse; agile and lithe like a cat. Vega displayed the perfect form of a fighter and her technique went beyond complicated, even Riddick had troubles following her, but despite the well defined muscles she was still very feminine; just what he liked and a combination that would cause a severe problem for Riddick if he didn't keep the beast away and his dick in his pants.  
  
He waited for her to finish; her body dripping with perspiration but she was hardly winded.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Come here," he growled as he got into a fighting stance.  
  
'We'll see how good she really is'  
  
Vega sighed and rolled her eyes, placing the gear back down on the table, and approached him.  
  
Riddick was crouched on the balls of his feet, arms positioned to guard or attack at a moments notice. Vega stood straight up facing him, one eyebrow arched with her hands on her hips.  
  
"You gotta be…"  
  
She didn't get the chance to finish, Riddick attacked.  
  
He got one solid punch in that busted her lip open, sending a trickle of blood down her chin. Vega smiled at him, wiping the blood away with the back of her hand, and licking it off with her tongue.  
  
The next set of punches and kicks Vega blocked fairly well; she rolled and flipped in various directions, avoiding the onslaught, but Riddick kept coming.  
  
With lightening quick speed, Vega broke into a split as Riddick lunged at her, and punched him the kidneys. White hot pain shot up Riddick's side and he stumbled, Vega quickly swept his feet from under him and straddled his waist; she dug her knees into his sides to keep him still, as Riddick remained motionless.  
  
"What's a matter Riddick? No used to being on your back?"  
  
He went to flip her over (like he did to Carolyn at the end of the movie) but Vega sprang into a handstand and flipped over his head, avoiding the attack.  
  
Vega walked out of the room, but before she disappeared, she called over her shoulder,  
  
"We'll continue this later."  
  
Riddick slowly got up, readjusting his clothing; a slow smirk crept across his face.  
  
'Kid ain't bad…I'll show her who she's fucking with'

To be con't

Hey!I hope I don't get in trouble for this but…if anyone wants, they can come check out my Ezboard:The Vin Diesel Obsession.You can talk to other people, post your fics, see pictures, and find out the latest news and gossip.It's still new so there isn't that many posts by people, but come check it out and I'd really like it if you could post some of your stories there too.Uhm, it might take some time to load if you don't have a cable modem because I have a lot of animated gifs and pictures on the site, but I promise it will be worth the wait!!! Hope to see ya there and if you stop by leave a message in the New Recruits section!!!

http://pub89.ezboard.com/bvindieseladdictsanonymous


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